Tropical Barbecue Pork Chops

Sometimes when my husband cooks, he tries to get creative. The results of what he ends up with are usually nothing I would even think of sharing; however, there are exceptions. Much to my surprise, his twist on my ketchup and brown sugar pork chops is one of those exceptions. They were delicious!

Frankly, I was very skeptical when he told me everything that he put in the sauce that the pork chops would even be edible, but I was wrong. It turns out that bananas do go well with pork…I had no idea.

This is a sweet sauce with just a little heat. You can easily adjust the sweetness level by reducing or increasing the amount of brown sugar and banana (or even eliminating the banana) in the recipe. You can adjust the level of heat by adding/reducing cayenne pepper and by the selection of the commercial or homemade barbecue sauce flavor profile.

Recipe: Tropical Barbecue Pork Chops

Ingredients

1 15 oz. can of crushed pineapple in natural juice

1 banana, ripe (optional)

1 c. ketchup

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. honey barbecue sauce (or bbq sauce of your choice)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1- 2 Tbsp. olive or canola oil

seasoned salt, to taste

1/2″ to 1″ thick pork chops (center cut with bone, rib, or loin)

Instructions

Drain can of pineapple and save all of juice, set aside.

Mash banana with fork, set aside.

In a bowl combine ketchup, brown sugar, barbecue sauce and juice drained from can of pineapple.

Stir until all ingredients are well combined.

Add 1/2 c. of drained pineapple and mashed banana.

Add cayenne pepper to taste.

Dry off pork chops with a paper towel and very lightly season with salt.

Variations

You could finish this dish in a 350 degrees F oven instead of the stove top. Just either place the raw or browned pork chop (my preferred method) in a oven proof baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Add sauce and bake until desired internal temperature is reached.